Port of Cork to leave city centre by 2050 to facilitate urban regeneration

Chief Executive of the Port of Cork Company, Eoin McGettigan, said one of the city quays and another in Tivoli "are very suitable for compact living".

Mr McGettigan said as the closest port to continental Europe, Cork has benefitted from Brexit. Picture: Larry Cummins

The Port of Cork is to release the City Quays and Tivoli Docks for urban regeneration and compact living by 2050, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Chief Executive of the Port of Cork Company, Eoin McGettigan, said a masterplan for the port which is due to be published by the end of this month will detail steps as to how the port will change by 2050.

Mr McGettigan said the plan details the migration of port activities to the lower harbour closer to deep water facilities while also identifying the part Cork Harbour can play in supporting Ireland’s energy needs. “We intend to be out of the city centre of Cork and operating in the lower harbour and we also plan to have net zero emissions by 2050,” he said.

The port is working with Cork City Council to vacate the city quays “over an agreed period”.

Once the port has moved, Mr McGettigan said one of the city quays in the centre of Cork and another in Tivoli will be left behind. 

He said:

Both of those are very suitable for compact living and urban regeneration and that is our plan and we’ve worked with the planning agencies.

However, he added that the move to free the quays is contingent on the completion of the M28 dual carriageway to Ringaskiddy as well as offshore wind energy facilities. “There are a number of milestones, how do you take a port that’s been in the city centre, and it’s been there for over 200 years, and move it down to the lower harbour?” he said.

He said two additional berths in Ringaskiddy, which the port has planning permission for, will need to be accelerated to facilitate the country’s plans to develop fixed-bottom offshore wind energy (ORE). Once ORE construction phase is over, the port will repurpose the berths to support its exit from the City Quays and Tivoli.

Mr McGettigan said as the closest port to continental Europe, Cork has benefitted from Brexit.

“We had very little trade with the UK so Brexit actually presented an opportunity because product that was coming into the State via the UK, some of that now has started to come directly into Cork,” he said.

Shannon

Shannon Foynes Port Company Chief Executive, Pat Keating, said “time is of the essence” when it comes to offshore wind energy, and despite having “the best resource”, Ireland is “four to five years behind” when compared internationally. Mr Keating said the policy framework must be correct noting that An Bord Pleanála must be resourced properly.

“Some of the big international companies like Shell or Equinor who have looked at Ireland, absolutely the resource sells itself but then when they engage with the system, there’s a level of frustration,” he said.

Dublin

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company, Barry O’Connell, said the movement of Dublin Port in order to use the space for housing would require a “cut and paste” of linked facilities such as the Port Tunnel and the M50.

Based on a detailed assessment on the prospect of moving the port to another site on the east coast, Mr O’Connell said a project of that scale would be a “mega project” that would likely take between 20 to 30 years “assuming that a suitable location could be found”.

Mr O’Connell noted that Transport Minister Eamon Ryan mentioned three sites on Dublin Port that would be suitable for housing. “The Minister mentioned three parcels of land in particular, we have offered one of those pieces of land already to the Land Development Agency.

Mr O’Connell said the site went to local council for a vote for rezoning which was overturned as it was deemed unfit for housing rezoning due to its proximity to the port tunnel. He said the other two pieces of land are being used, one as a car compound and the other as refrigerated storage.